Improvement in sewing-machines



Artnr rtree.

J N O.V OHILOOTT AND JAS; SGRIMGEOUR, OF BROOKLYN, NV YORK.

t, .IIVIPROVEIVIENTIN SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part 0f Letters Patent No. 2,556, dated May 15, M55.

To all w/w'm/ it r11/ty concern;

Be it known that we, J oHN GHrLooTr and JAMES SoRiMe-EOUR, ofthe city of Brooklyn, county of Kings, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Feeding Mechanism .of` Sewing-Machines; and

we dohereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part'of this specification, in`

Which- Figure lis a front view, showing the applit cation of our improved feed mechanism toga sewing-machine.- Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the same, taken atright angles to Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a sectional plan of the same. Fig. 4 is a plan of a portion of the same.

Similar "lettersV of reference indicate 'correspending parts in the several figures.

The objectof this invention is to obtain a universal feeding movement to feed thecloth l or other material to be sewed in any and every thereto, the said roller being movable aroundy the needle, so asto bear upon the material on,

any side of the needle. Motioirgiven 'either to the disk or to the roller will give motion to the cloth in adirection parallel with the plane t in which any portion of the roller rotates.

A is the bed or table upon which the sewing is performed. a is the'needle attached Ito a slider working through a iixed head, C. 'D `is the disk', and E the roller between which the material is conned and by which it is moved, the motion being, in this illustration of curini. vention, given by the roller E. The disk has a roughened upper surface and is sunk into the bed A, so as to stand flush with or not very perceptibly raised above the surface thereof', and is fitted to the bed so as to turn freely, and a suitable opening is provided at its center for the needle to workthrough it. rlhe manner in which we apply the disk to the bed is to t it rst to a bearing within a circular plate, F, and to leave a small boss, c, in theV -center of the said plate F, to fit an opening in rotate with the least possible amount of friction. The. roller E has a toothed or roughened periphery. It is fitted to turn on an axle, d, secured to a sleeve, @,which is capable of turning freely on a cylindrical portion of the lower part ofthe head C; but this sleeve is kept stationary, except at such times as the direction of the feed requires to be changed, by means of a toothed clutch, fg, of which the part f is secured to the bottom of the head G by a screw, 71,7 .and the part g is formed on the bottom of the sleeve. gear by a spiral spring, z', applied, as shown in .Fig 2, between lthe upper portion of the in-l -side of the sleeve and the cylindrical portion of thel head C. This spring also serves to give a yielding pressure to the roller E, to confine the cloth to the disk. When it is' necessary to change the position of the roller to feed in a different direction, the sleeve e must be lifted up by hand, aided, if necessary, by suitable me-v` y chanical appliances high enough to ungear the clutch, and then the roller may be turned to work in any required position. The movement of the roller onfits axle cl to feed the cloth is effected by furnishing the roller with teeth on its inner side to gear with teeth formed around the lower part of a loose collar, k, which is fitted to turn around the head C independently of the sleeve e, and confined in its place by a collar, Z, which is fitted tightly to the lower part of the head C and secured thereto by a screw, m, as shown in Fig. 2, rlhe upper part ofthe loose collar k is toothed all around to enable it to receive motion from a spur-wheel, mon the horizontal feed-shaft o, which works in bearings in the lhead C, and carries two ratchet-wheels, p p', whose teeth incline in opposite directions, in order that motion may be given to the feedshaft in either direction by throwing in gear with the proper ratchet one of two pawls, q q', which'are suspended from a rod, r, receiving ,a reciprocating motion from an eccentric, s, on

themain shaft of the machine. In changing the position of the roller E relatively to the needle, the raising of the sleeve e to free the clutch f g also raises the teeth on the roller E clear of the teeth on the bottom of the collar 7c, and allows the sleeve to turn without mov- The clutch is kept in ing the feed-shaft. In order to conduct the thread to the needle Without its being interfered with by any ofthe feeding mechanism,

. we provide a hole. t, for it to pass down lin the desired line of feed, either by hand or mechanical means. Whatever may be the positicn of the roller E, the disk D Will always bear the saine relation to it, as the position of the roller is always confined to a circle concentric with the disk.

As the roller E is capable of moving right round the needle, it is plain that the feed can be given in any line, and by the application of the double movement to the feed-shaft by the two ratehets and pawls, a feed in any direction may be obtained. The direction of the feed may be changed at anypoint in a piece of work by stopping the machine with the needle in the Work to confine it in its place before moving or changing the position of the roller, and the Work will proceed in a new direction Without any irregularity in the stitches at the point where the change of direction takes place.

Instead of giving motion to the roller E to feed the material, the motion may be given to the disk D, and the roller will then receive motion by the friction of the cloth. This We regard as a incre modification of our invention.

lW e are aware that sewing-machines have been constructed so that their feed mechanism might be varied to run the seam. either longitudinally with or cireularly round a cylindrical mandrel by substituting one set of feedingrollers for another, and that these rollers have been arranged on one side of the material being sewed, to operate in connection with bearing-rollers on the other side to prevent drag, and that such bearing-rollers have been made adjustable round the needle to run in either one of the two directions of seam specified. Such, therefore, we do not claim. Neither do we use nor claim a rotating table with guide on its face to adjust the direction of the seam, as known to be old; but

W'e do claim as new and useful in the feed ing mechanism of sewinginaehines and desire to secure by Letters Patent- The arrangement herein shown and d eseribed ofthe revolving disk D Within or on the ixed table, and having its axis in line with the needie, as specied, when combined to operate together with a roller, E, bearing on vthe opposite side of the cloth and made adjustable to any position in a circle round the center ol the said dish, to vary with facility and dispatch the run of the seam in lines on any side of the needle Without the aid of guides on the face of the table, and Whether the revolving disk or bearing-roller be caused to move the cloth, as herein set forth.

JOHN CHILCOTT. JAMES SCRIMGEOUR. 'Witnessesz S. H. YVALEs, WILLIAM TUscH. 

